Content Insights Blog

During recent interviews for Phase 2 of our Content & Credibility Study, we have been asking people what web content they find credible and why. As part of that process, I have observed many people’s opinions of search results listings and what makes a result click-worthy. It’s made me think about the importance of a certain content element – the meta description. During our testing, I’ve seen just how important this information is in the decision-making process as users scan search results.

What Is a Meta Description?

The all-important search results listing, or “snippet” in Google speak, is made up of roughly 155 characters of descriptive text that tells users what content is on a page and how it meets their search query. The information displayed in the results listing is created to best match the user’s search terms and can be pulled from a variety of sources, including the meta description. (Other sources could be the Open Directory Project or content from the page itself.) Here's an example of a search result for Content Science. The meta description is displayed under the URL and file format information.   Read More >

As someone who has worked in marketing and advertising for years, I’ve seen certain words that used to be harmless develop negative connotations. Most of us don’t hear the word “advertisement” without thinking of an annoying interruption. Particularly, the acronym “SEO” (short for search engine optimization) has become associated more and more with spam, manipulation, and trickery.

Shifts in the meaning of words are a natural part of lingual evolution, but these particular buzzwords suffer because of the people who exploit their popularity to make a quick and easy buck.  Read More >

When you tackle content problems, don't make the mistake of turning to shortcuts such as SEO snake oil. Learn why in this article by Colleen Jones for Smashing Magazine.

Read the article >
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Ian Alexander calls these types of content traffic and trust content. Most companies need both types. He notes

"The implied value of these services/deliverables are very clear. Getting visitors to your site is not at all the same as keeping them there. Inversely paying for good trustbuilding content without a comprehensive search strategy that includes SEO is also shortsighted."  Read More >